“And you son of man, be not afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions, be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.”
– Ezekiel 2:6–7
What sobering words for Ezekiel to hear from God at the beginning of this book. Ezekiel chapter one, Ezekiel sees this vision of God in all of His glory. And then, in chapter two, God calls Ezekiel to hear His word and proclaim it to people who will not want to hear it. And not only will they not want to hear it, well, they refuse to listen. But they will likely oppose Ezekiel as he speaks God’s word, which is why three times, God says in these two verses, “Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be afraid of their words. Don’t be dismayed at the way they look at you.”
Ezekiel 2:6–7 Provides a Clear Example of the Privilege to Know God’s Word
This is such a clear reminder to every single one of us who has the word of God, one, we have been given a responsibility. And the privilege. What a privilege God was giving to Ezekiel to hear from God’s word and to speak it. You and I have the same privilege. The same spirit who is on Ezekiel is the same spirit who is on every follower of Jesus. And the same word. Ezekiel is receiving this revelation from God. Every one of us we have revelation from God sitting in front of us, most of us on our phones or devices. We have 66 books that are the revealed word of God given to us. And it’s not just for us to receive. It’s for us to speak. And as we speak His word to not be afraid of how people may respond to it.
I just want to ask you today to consider who is God calling you to speak His word to. Today, this week, who is God calling you to share the gospel with? He’s put people in our lives and our families and friendships and schools and workplaces and neighborhoods and communities. And people that we will meet in the cities where we live this week that we didn’t even know before that we will run into at a store or a park or an athletic event, or I’ll be coaching on the field with my kids this weekend.
Ezekiel 2:6–7 Calls Us to Share the Gospel Boldly
But regardless of who we are or where we will be this week, we will have opportunities to speak God’s word. So don’t be afraid to speak it. Don’t be afraid of how people will respond. That’s the whole point here in Ezekiel chapter two. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed. Just speak God’s word, trusting that it is true, that it is what people most need to hear, and that God’s word is people’s only hope for life, for life now, and for life in eternity.
God, we pray that you would help us not to be afraid or dismayed. Today, this week, help us to speak your word, to speak the gospel, the good news of your love to people around us, to people you have put in our paths, in our spheres of influence in our lives, to people that we don’t even know that we may meet this week and to people that we know and love well, that we work with all the time. God, help us not to be silent with your word. Make us a people who speak without fear and without dismay about who you are and how you love us so much that you sent Jesus to die on a cross for our sins.
Led to Proclaim the Gospel to Unreached People
God help us to proclaim this word here. And God, we pray for the spread of this word in places where this word has not gone. God, for the Bhote people of India, high in the Himalayas, in a remote region of the world. We pray for fearless servants of yours to go and proclaim your word to the Bhote people. God, we pray all the time for unreached people groups on this podcast. It’s so clear that so many of them are unreached because we are afraid to go to them because we are afraid of what might happen to us when we go to them.
God, we pray that you would remove fear from your church, that we would go boldly into unreached people groups and places and spread your word that they might experience life. God, help us all to be faithful to your call on our lives, faithful, without fear, with faith. To proclaim your word to others, that they might have life. And that we might experience life to the full in the process. In Jesus’ name, we pray all of this according to your word in Ezekiel 2:6–7. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
